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From: ddyment@ubc-vision.CDN (Doug Dyment)
Newsgroups: net.consumers
Subject: Re: Phone numbers on credit slips?
Message-ID: <589@ubc-vision.CDN>
Date: Thu, 20-Sep-84 11:31:14 EDT
Article-I.D.: ubc-visi.589
Posted: Thu Sep 20 11:31:14 1984
Date-Received: Fri, 21-Sep-84 00:22:05 EDT
References: <14@sdcsvax.UUCP>, <824@ihuxn.UUCP>
Organization: UBC Vision, Vancouver, B.C., Canada
Lines: 17

I'm rather surprised to have seen no comments on what I know to be at least
one reason why phone number are collected on credit card slips.  A number of
companies that do analyses of consumer buying habits (aided, of course, by
computer) use as input to such studies the information found on credit card
slips (they will, you have no doubt surmised, pay retailers for such infor-
mation).  The reason for the phone number is to make it easy for them to
properly correlate all information about individual family buying habits.
Your phone number remains constant across an ever-changing variety of credit
card types, numbers, and names (your name is often slightly different on each
of your many cards; plus of course other members of your household may hold
cards in their own names).  I also used to refuse to give my number, but
found that often just led to time-wasting hassles and delays.  Now I just
enter a random number each time (entering the SAME number, of course, doesn't
foil their scheme), without comment.  If I'm stupid enough to leave my credit
card, I'll just pay the ($50 max) consequences, but I haven't managed to do
this in 20+ years of using the damn things.
							... Doug Dyment